Alabama football: 5 questions the Crimson Tide must answer in 2020

3. Can the Alabama football defense return to form?

One thing we’ve always been able to count on in Tuscaloosa is that Alabama football has been a factory of NFL-caliber defensive talent. However, we have seen the Crimson Tide take a step back in terms of their defensive prowess as a unit over the past couple of years. Though the talent level hasn’t declined, the performance most certainly has.

In the 2016 and 2017 seasons, Alabama was the No. 1 scoring defense in the country. The year before, that, they were the No. 3 scoring defense in college football. Over the past two seasons, however, they’ve taken a step back as they’ve ranked 12th and 13th, respectively, in scoring defense. That’s obviously not bad but it’s a noticeable drop off from where they were.

Part of the reason that the Crimson Tide conceded 18.6 points per game and gave up 23 or more points in five games — including giving up 46 and 48 points in their two losses — last season was the loss of linebacker Dylan Moses in the preseason. He was slated to be the defensive quarterback and, without him, the defense was discombobulated at times. His return should shore things up.

Simply, Bama needs to recapture their dominant form on defense if they have National Championship aspirations. Though the offense has elite talent, the questions at quarterback and likely relying more on the run necessitates a dominant defense. Saban has the talent at his disposal but needs to put it to good use in 2020.